Geejay
GeeJay, comprising of vocalist Gina Jane and producer and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Lobo, have crafted their own unique sound. The sleek, soulful, and powerful vocals of Gina marry perfectly with Jacob’s classy piano chords, groovy rhythms, and flurries of saxophone and flute. GeeJay have already garnered widespread acclaim from the likes of The Guardian, BBC Radio 1, and CLASH, to name but a few.
Hey guys! Give us an introduction to GeeJay?!
JL: We are Gina (Gee) and Jacob (Jay). Once got told in an interview that we can’t have thought too hard on the name choice! We’ve been making music together for about 6 years now, and it’s been a brilliant journey so far.
You met working in a coffee shop… can you tell us about this lil love story?
GJ: Of course! So, there’s a shop in Harringay, North London, that whilst selling coffee at the front, also offers music lessons at the back. It’s called Music and Beans, and not only is it a fantastic little spot, but it attracts a lot of like minded creatives. We both worked there serving coffee and teaching music lessons on opposite shift patterns – a late arriving member of staff was the reason that we actually managed to cross paths and meet each other. From there, 10 minutes of conversation was enough to realise that we both really gelled, we arranged to meet up in the rehearsal room at the back of the shop to have a jam, and the rest, as they say, is history.
What or who are some of your biggest musical influences, and how do they inspire your own creative process?
GJ: Erykah Badu, Hiatus Kaiyote and Billie Holiday. I’ve learnt a lot from Billie Holiday to be honest; whilst she may not be the most technical singer, the way in which she can infuse her emotions and story into her voice is astounding. Erykah Badu has inspired the way that I write music – she approaches from the melodic perspective first by scatting (think du-ba-dwee-bop haha) and then matching the words after. Hiatus Kaiyote are bonkers, and I love a bit of madness.
JL: Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley and Joe Hisaishi. Marvin Gaye has an incredible voice, and so when I was learning to produce, I would use his vocal stems, chop them up, and make my own beats. Bob Marley’s music is special – his songs allow me to relax and take me back to core childhood memories. Joe Hisaishi is a Japanese composer who writes film music for the Studio Ghibli company. His music wonderfully fuses Classical with Jazz, and has been a creative inspiration in our music.
You relocated from London to Bournemouth during Lockdown… What's your connection to the place and how are you finding it?
GJ: When I was younger, my brother really suffered with hay fever and as a remedy my late father would drive us down to Poole for the sea air, which really helped him. So memories of Dorset were already woven into the fabric of my being. When lockdown first happened, we left London to stay with my mum in Wiltshire, and after 2 months realised that Covid wasn’t a passing phase!
JL: We started scanning Rightmove for suitable properties to rent in Wiltshire, and after a while it was a matter of zooming out on the map, finding the sea, and falling in love.
GJ: I remember driving down on the very same day, just to get a look outside the property and discover what was around. I remember the feeling of familiarity with Boscombe, it felt like a little parcel of London with its own unique twist.
JL: And that was it, within a month we had moved down and haven’t looked back!
Recording your album following the birth of your daughter sounded like an intimate experience, can you tell us more about this?
JL: It was incredible, intimate, and intense! We’d already formed a skeleton idea of the album during pregnancy, and it was once the baby popped out that this crazy immense drive to record and finish the album really kicked in.
GJ: Looking back, I think we were both pretty delirious throughout, and that whole period was a blur. As all parents know, regular sleep becomes a thing of legend in the first few weeks, and I was still very much in recovery from an emergency
C-Section. I do remember bringing the baby into the studio with us, bouncing her around in a swaddle until she fell asleep, tentatively placing her in her cot and then, once asleep, rushing to the microphone to sing my takes.
JL: There’s this one moment that sticks with me, in the track called ‘I’ll be your Best Friend’ there's a powerful bridge section in the final half of the song. I remember Gina absolutely nailing the lead into the section and on the final words the baby woke up and started crying in the room.
In despair, we listened back to the take, only to realise that the cry perfectly complemented the transition, and so decided to keep that in the final recording.
GJ: And that wasn’t the only one! Her murmurs and cries are littered across the whole record! But there’s beauty in imperfection, especially in music. Imperfection adds character. So in creating the album, we have not only made a record that encapsulates our sound and essence, but also acts as a time capsule of that era that will last forever. Guess we’ll have to give her a performance split, but we’ll get onto that when her lawyers reach out!
Your debut album ‘What’s the Sun Without the Rain’ is out in full on May 28th–what can we expect?
GJ: As the title infers, the album is an honest reflection on issues that many of us inevitably face in life. We’ve got highs, and we’ve got lows!
JL: Expect groovy rhythms, soulful piano chords, flurries of saxophone and flute, and Gina’s incredible vocals!
